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IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

  • Wednesday, July 16 2008 @ 12:22 pm ACST
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International Cup 2008

The Australian Football League has released the much anticipated draw for the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. The AFL had felt a two division format was most likely (effectively separated between elite and developing nations), with anywhere between 12 and 18 teams on the cards. But with the final number of teams coming in at 16, and most of them wishing to play in the main draw, a late decision was made to merge them into one division. This gives the tournament a very fair structure, with 4 pools of 4 teams, each side playing the others within their pool once, with the top team in each going through to the main semi-finals (and similarly lower finishing teams playing off against each other).

The previously alluded to Multicultural section outside the main draw has also been released, with "Team Africa" representing Melbourne's recent African immigrants and playing three matches, against each of South Africa (as a practice game for them), Tonga (unable to commit to the full draw) and "Team Asia".

The pools:

RankPool APool BPool CPool D
1New ZealandPNGUSAIreland
2SamoaGreat BritainSouth AfricaCanada
3JapanNauruDenmarkSweden
4IndiaPeace TeamChinaFinland

All the rounds, times and venues are listed below.

The pool rounds:

Round 1 - Wednesday, 27 AugustMelbourne
Match-upPoolVenueTime
Ireland vs SwedenDRoyal Park - McAlister Oval11:00am
New Zealand vs JapanARoyal Park - Ransford Oval11:00am
Canada vs FinlandDRoyal Park - Western Oval11:00am
Samoa vs IndiaARoyal Park - McAlister Oval1:00pm
Great Britain vs Peace TeamBRoyal Park - Ransford Oval1:00pm
USA vs DenmarkCRoyal Park - Western Oval1:00pm
South Africa vs ChinaCRoyal Park - McAlister Oval3:00pm
PNG vs NauruBRoyal Park - Ransford Oval3:00pm


Round 2 - Fri 29 / Sat 30 AugustMelbourne
Match-upPoolVenueTime
Ireland vs FinlandDRoyal Park - Western Oval11:00am Fri 29th Aug
USA vs ChinaCRoyal Park - McAlister Oval11:00am Fri 29th Aug
Great Britain vs NauruBRoyal Park - Ransford Oval11:00am Fri 29th Aug
PNG vs Peace TeamBRoyal Park - McAlister Oval1:00pm Fri 29th Aug
Samoa vs JapanARoyal Park - Ransford Oval1:00pm Fri 29th Aug
New Zealand vs IndiaARoyal Park - Western Oval1:00pm Fri 29th Aug
Canada vs SwedenDRoyal Park - Ransford Oval3:00pm Fri 29th Aug
South Africa vs DenmarkCSt Mary's, Geelong12:00pm Sat 30th Aug


Round 3 - Monday 1 SeptemberWarrnambool
Match-upPoolVenueTime
Ireland vs CanadaDReid Oval11:00am
New Zealand vs SamoaAWalter Oval11:00am
Sweden vs FinlandDMack Oval11:00am
USA vs South AfricaCReid Oval1:00pm
PNG vs Great BritainBWalter Oval1:00pm
Japan vs IndiaAMack Oval1:00pm
Denmark vs ChinaCReid Oval3:00pm
Nauru vs Peace TeamBWalter Oval3:00pm

The finals:

Top 45th - 8th9th - 12th13th - 16th
1st Pool A2nd Pool A3rd Pool A4th Pool A
1st Pool B2nd Pool B3rd Pool B4th Pool B
1st Pool C2nd Pool C3rd Pool C4th Pool C
1st Pool D2nd Pool D3rd Pool D4th Pool D


Round 4 - Wednesday, 3 SeptemberWarrnambool
Match-upFinalVenueTime
3rd Pool A vs 3rd Pool D3Mack Oval1:00pm
4th Pool A vs 4th Pool D1Reid Oval1:00pm
2nd Pool B vs 2nd Pool C6Walter Oval1:00pm
4th Pool B vs 4th Pool C2Mack Oval3:00pm
3rd Pool B vs 3rd Pool C4Reid Oval3:00pm
2nd Pool A vs 2nd Pool D5Walter Oval3:00pm
1st Pool A vs 1st Pool D7Reid Oval5:30pm
1st Pool B vs 1st Pool C8Reid Oval7:30pm


This now means:

Round 4 - Wednesday, 3 SeptemberWarrnambool
Match-upFinalVenueTime
Samoa vs Sweden3Mack Oval1:00pm
India vs Finland1Reid Oval1:00pm
Nauru vs USA6Walter Oval1:00pm
Peace Team vs China2Mack Oval3:00pm
Great Britain vs Denmark4Reid Oval3:00pm
Japan vs Canada5Walter Oval3:00pm
New Zealand vs Ireland7Reid Oval5:30pm
PNG vs South Africa8Reid Oval7:30pm


Round 5 - Friday 5 SeptemberMelbourne
Match-upRankVenueTime
Winner Final 1 vs Winner Final 213th/14thRoyal Park - Western Oval10:00am
Winner Final 3 vs Winner Final 49th/10thRoyal Park - McAlister Oval10:00am
Winner Final 5 vs Winner Final 65th/6thRoyal Park - Ransford Oval10:15am
Loser Final 3 vs Loser Final 411th/12thRoyal Park - Western Oval11:45am
Loser Final 5 vs Loser Final 67th/8thRoyal Park - McAlister Oval11:45am
Loser Final 7 vs Loser Final 83rd/4thRoyal Park - Ransford Oval12:00pm
Loser Final 1 vs Loser Final 215th/16thRoyal Park - Ransford Oval1:45pm


This now means:

Round 5 - Friday 5 SeptemberMelbourne
Match-upRankVenueTime
Finland vs Peace Team13th/14thRoyal Park - Western Oval10:00am
Great Britain vs Samoa9th/10thRoyal Park - McAlister Oval10:00am
Nauru vs Canada5th/6thRoyal Park - Ransford Oval10:15am
Sweden vs Denmark11th/12thRoyal Park - Western Oval11:45am
USA vs Japan7th/8thRoyal Park - McAlister Oval11:45am
Ireland vs South Africa3rd/4thRoyal Park - Ransford Oval12:00pm
India vs China15th/16thRoyal Park - Ransford Oval1:45pm


Grand Final - Friday 5 SeptemberMelbourne
Match-upRankVenueTime
Winner Final 7 vs Winner Final 81st/2ndMCG5:10pm


This now means:

Grand Final - Friday 5 SeptemberMelbourne
Match-upRankVenueTime
New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea1st/2ndMCG5:10pm


MULTICULTURAL CHALLENGE MATCHES
Match-upDateVenueTime
Team Africa vs South Africa23rd AugustGosch's Paddock10:30am
Team Africa vs Team Asia29th AugustRoyal Park - McAlister3:00pm
Team Africa vs Team Asia1st SeptemberWarrnambool - Mack3:00pm
Team Africa vs Tonga5th SeptemberRoyal Park - McAlister1:30pm

* Fixture subject to change.
** Some matches were moved ovals to present the anticipated best match/closest match on the best oval for spectator viewing (these changes will be reflected in this timetable once determined).
*** Grand Final was originally scheduled for Saturday 6th Sep but moved to Friday 5th when there was no AFL final scheduled for the MCG.

What do you think of the draw?

Later today we'll present an analysis of the draw and invite reader feedback.